Running to crazy lengths for good causes
His fans affectionately call him "Ah Siao" (Hokkien for crazy one), and with good reason.
Over the years, local ultra-endurance athlete Gerrard Lin, 34, has done seemingly insane things to raise awareness for the causes he believes in.
He ran 50km daily for 50 days for SG50, ran 888km from Thailand to Singapore for a food fund-raiser and even dragged a 14kg tyre during a 42km Standard Chartered Marathon in 2012.
Now, Mr Lin, who also did training runs of 200km per week to make the three-hour qualification mark for the Boston Marathon in April last year, wants to take his passion to the next level through his creative start-up Run Pilgrim, by encouraging others to push boundaries as well.
The Nanyang Technological University graduate told The New Paper: "We want to raise a platform of awareness to inspire everyone, in any form, to come together for fitness.
"Everything we do has inclusivity components and we are filling gaps other profit-driven organisations aren't."
Mr Lin and his friend started the former events management business in 2009, but the current goal came about only last year.
The pair go about it in a fun way by organising boutique runs, such as the Durian Run (its fourth edition is on July 23) and the Teh Tarik Run.
Run Pilgrim is also in talks with the International Association of Ultra Runners to start ultra-marathons (longer than the usual 42km distance) in Singapore.
Last Thursday, Mr Lin, who has a Facebook fanpage with more than 3,000 followers, participated as a sports influencer in the fifth edition of the 3M Step-Up Challenge@South East, a two-month community initiative to raise funds for the underprivileged in the South East district.
The target that day was 200,000 steps, and a hamper containing five 3M household products was given to each of 30 needy families.
Among the 800 participants, Mr Lin, decked out in quirky pineapple-print tights, a wizard's hat and a fake beard, stood out in both appearance and performance.
He completed 5,288 steps during the three-hour OCBC Square event - five times more than the average person - out of the combined tally, an eventually record-breaking 620,000 steps.He said: "It is to show how ordinary people, like myself, can go beyond for a higher purpose."
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